บท 35: Touching a friend
"So I'm a blind person now huh?" I asked myself in a quiet voice.
'Kenshin, I'm sorry, because of my wish you-' Guizhong was crying. I know it. I can recognize the soft tremors her soul was suffering.
As I said before, the soul commands the body. If Guizhong had a body, her body would be convulsing and crying due to the orders her soul was issuing.
"Albedo, there are a lot of things I need to tell you, but please wait a few days, I feel very tired" and sad too. Losing my sight is honestly a tragedy for me.
"Of course, I'm also at fault for this" he felt guilt. Again, I can see it.
"No, you aren't. I will tell you more about why later, but please promise me you won't use the Art of Khemia until I speak with you" I warned him. That being didn't notice a part of him was being siphoned because Albedo was only condensing small souls, but in this case, he was alert now because of my presence so it was better to avoid poking him.
"Yes, of course" he readily agreed. I was trying to look where the souls came from and ended in this state, it was obvious something was wrong here. "I will take you to the church, maybe they can help"
I saw something around us, but now I was able to discern even the smallest of changes and feelings.
"Come to say 'I told you?'" I asked bitterly at the air.
"Sorry, what?" Albedo asked me in a confused voice.
"Of course not" Barbatos voice reached us. "There is no way I would be happy about this". He is a softie in the end.
"Hehe, but Barbatos, I got something out of this" I felt a single good thing coming from this. "The dangerous part of the Art of Khemia is condensing the soul, there is no problem with the body side of things. So our plan is safe" I smiled wryly.
'Kenshin, why are you still talking about that?!. Look at how you are now!" Guizhong screamed, still crying.
'That's precisely why. Now that I'm like this, it's better to go all the way. Let my loss be worth something. And now we know our plan is safe, so no trouble'. I genuinely believe this.
'Either way, please Guizhong, the last thing I need now is more scolding, you can do that later. Help me please'. I was obviously not asking about telling me where the toilet was.
'Of course, I will help you with everything I can' she nodded with determination.
"I will help you go down the mountain. Albedo, carry him from there okay?. There are a few reasons why I can't show myself" Barbatos said, taking the both of us to the foot of the mountain, and then near the gate.
The Albedo put my arm over her shoulders and carried me as good as he could.
"Hey! Over here!" he shouted, and I saw 2 souls quickly approach us in worry. While losing my sight was a tragedy, maybe I could somehow be able to see certain things so at least I could avoid crashing into someone. Of course, soulless or inanimate things are invisible to me.
"Albedo, what happened to hi- Oh my god!" judging by how his soul twisted in horror, I must not be in a pretty state.
"Questions later, please help me carry him to the church" was all Albedo said.
Between the 3 they quickly carried me to the church. Thankfully nobody saw us, I don't want to see more people feel horror while looking at me.
"Hello, it's so early in the morning, what do you- oh" a woman's voice said.
"Quickly, help us carry him to th....".
I was too tired, so sleeping sounded very good.
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I woke up, and the first thing I did was remove whatever was hindering my vision.
Of course, when I touched my face and slapped myself I realized that I was blind now, so of course I didn't see anything.
'Hey Guizhong, are you there?'. I felt like slapping myself again. Where is she going to go?.
'Yes, where am I going to go?' she replied shakily.
'How much time passed?'
'A day' she succinctly replied. 'How are you?'
'Very tired. Now let's leave the bed'
'Weren't you tired?. How about you rest a bit?' she was worried, I could see it.
'My exhaustion isn't a physical one' I replied in a calm voice. 'I need to get some air'.
'O-Of course' Guizhong replied.
'We can talk about whose faults this is later. We have days months or even years, no matter what happens with your body. Now help me-. Never mind, you are useless' I grumbled.
'Hey!. I was worried about you for the whole day, show a bit of respect!' she was back to usual.
'Sorry, I will try to eat your 'worry' when I'm angry, or heal my head with your 'worry' when I hit a door. The same way I will piss on your 'worry' when I can't find the toilet' I scoffed.
'No need to be so rude....' she grumbled.
'I don't need a moping friend. I am going to need a lot of time to adapt to this, and I could use some happiness around. I have no use for your worry, but that happiness I need a lot'
'Okay' she muttered.
'For the love of god, where is the damn door!" I have been trying to find it for a while, but I can't find it.
CRACK.
Just then the door opened, hitting me on the nose, and based on the sound, breaking it.
"Oh, I'm sorry" a voice said.
I looked at her, realizing who it was.
"Hey Miss Sister, nice to see you here" I greeted her with a nasal voice, a product of the hit right now.
"L-Let me heal you" she said and took her hydro Vision. How curious.
I could sense a fragment of her soul inside that thing. It was connected to her by a small but robust thread, and it was 'sending' a signal to somewhere in a certain direction. Curious, but I will think about it later.
I felt how my nose was healed, and let me tell you it was a surreal experience. I had never been healed by anyone before, maybe some gauze when I scrapped my knee, but this was amazing. I felt how my broken bones realigned themselves and suddenly, voila, I was healed.
"Barbara, do you have anything to do right now?" I asked her. I was going to need a lot of help, at least to arrive at a place I could eat.
"No, what do you need?" she asked sadly. I rubbed her head after a few tries and she looked up to me. Yes, I saw her soul send those orders to her brain, so while I couldn't see her eyes, I knew she was looking at me.
"To arrive at the bathroom" I smiled. She blushed hearing me but nodded and took me to the bathroom, where I could finally relieve myself. I had a bit of trouble washing my hands, but I could do it. Bravo Kenshin!.
"Thank you Barbara. I will go alone from here, please try to find a stick or something I can use".
There is no point in being guided everywhere, I need to do this for myself. I can avoid hitting someone with the stick, but I still need to know if there are stairs or something in my path. After a lot of convincing, I finally started my adventure.
'Mondstadt is truly special. I caused a lot of trouble in Liyue but left unpunished. I caused trouble in Mondstadt, blind in three days'.
'Indeed, Liyue is the best. Where are we going now?' she asked.
'To see Albedo of course. We need to make your body' I answered her.
'Are you still going on that?' she asked a bit scared.
'Well, if you are so guilty, what about helping me after you get your body?. Or can you help me now?' I asked a bit tired of her whining. I'm the blind one, and I'm saying that there is not a problem with the process of creating her body. Why is she still complaining?. 'There he is'
I could sense him all the way from here. He should be 500 meters away from me. Again, I can 'see' with my soul now, there is no meaning to walls.
"Kenshin!" I saw a bright golden soul approach me.
"Hello my Radiant Knight, would you be so kind as to lend me a miracle" I cheekily said.
"I *sob*, I can't do that.." Jean cried a bit.
"Heh, don't worry, I'm not completely blind. I can see animals and humans somewhat, but I can't see walls or objects. And I got a clue of what I came here to find, so I'm pretty happy with the result". I honestly thought this, so I would do the same all over again. My sight for a friend's life, the choice was obvious.
That's also why I wanted to let Guizhong acquire her body as soon as possible. It would let me think that my loss resulted in something worthy. If I lost my sight and still couldn't get Guizhong a body, I would feel really, really bad. Maybe after Guizhong gets her body and I can relax, the reality of losing my sight will crash into me, but now I have a mission.
"But still..." she was still sad. Nothing I can do.
"Then help me find Albedo" I said. I was planning on doing this alone, but now that Jean is here, why not?
"Yes" she nodded, her soul brimming with determination.
We quickly found him, and he was doing something. Yes, I can't see what he was doing, but he was making weird sounds, so he was doing something.
"Hey Albedo, we can have our talk now. Also, I would like to finish the project, but I don't know if you are still up for it". I said this, but I really need him to say yes.
"Of course. It's also my fault, so that's the least I can do" he said, making me breathe in relief. "I have everything ready". Oh, this homunculus guy is great!.
"Wait, are you going to continue doing whatever it was that left you in that state?" asked an incredulous Jean.
"Of course. Finishing this is the only way to make this mess somewhat worthy" I answered without skipping a beat.
"What are you talking about!" she was angry now. "Do you know how horrible you looked?!".
"Unfortunately, I couldn't see it" I tried to joke about it, but she got even angrier.
"You had blood all over your face! You had two holes as eyes, as your eyes were completely black! You were bleeding so much that I thought you would die of blood loss!" she exploded, but I knew how worried she was feeling now.
I was his only friend, the others tended to avoid her due to her excellence or simply because she was always busy. She was VERY good at her job, mainly battling, but she was also good at administrative affairs. I wanted to bring her with me to Inazuma, maybe those fools could learn from her.
"Jean, it will be alright. We already know that there is no danger to us, that's why we are proceeding with this" I tried to calm her.
"I just!" she tried to say, before leaving in a hurry. She was worried and angry, but that was no reason for me to stop.
"Albedo, let's go. I will need you to tell me the timing" now that I couldn't see, I was going to need his indications.
"No problem, leave it to me" he sounded as he always did.
We went to the mountain we were in, where I called Barbatos.
"Barbatos!. Please carry us to a place we can do this". Maybe I should bribe this guy with wine to make him my personal vehicle.
We felt a gust of wind gently making us float and-
ZUM!.
We were thrown at amazing speed until we arrived at solid ground again.
"Here you can do those foolish things again" he said, but still stood here to watch.
"You really are a tsundere" I mentioned. "Albedo what do I need to do?"
"Put the soul in the body when I tell you to. After that, it's the soul's work. I will tell you if the process is failing, so you can seal the soul again. I brought a lot of materials, and we can repeat this a few times". He is really farsighted, maybe I should make a few of him to take care of Inazuma. But remembering that huge thing is making me shiver, better not.
'Guizhong, are you ready?'
'I-I didn't expect to do this so soon' she was comprehensibly nervous.
'Are you ready?' I repeated myself in a stern tone. we can't have something as useless as nervousness being the reason for a failure.
'Yes!' she replied more confidently this time.
"We are ready. Whenever you say, Albedo" I nodded to him.
"Then I will start, be ready" he instructed.
I readied the slip where Guizhong was, and prepared another one, in case I needed to seal her again if she failed.
I was obviously not seeing anything, but I could focus better now in listening to Albedo's signal.
"Now!" and there it was.
I swiftly released Guizhong's soul, and she entered 'something' I couldn't see, but I realized her soul trying to expand, but the place she was in was restricting her. It's not good, she is going to fail. She is expending too much energy, but the rate at was she was expanding is not enough, she will tire out.
I had another brilliant idea, I tried to 'send' her energy, and it worked wonderfully. After my meeting with the cosmic being, I felt a lot stronger. At least my soul was. Just like after straining a muscle, it grows stronger, my soul did too.
I helped her, and the rate at what she was expanding inside the 'vessel' also grew, until it finally stopped.
I also stopped helping her and fell to the ground with a thud. That was so tiring.
"Guizhong, did it work?" I could see her soul with no problems, but the problem had always been her body. For all I know, she could have 6 arms right now.
"Yes, it worked perfectly". A soft voice I hadn't heard before reached my ears. Realizing that it was Guizhong who spoke, I lay down on the ground, feeling happy. But it also made me realize that I was now blind.
I won't be able to see Jean's blush.
I won't be able to see Sara's angry expression.
I won't be able to see Morax's surprise, not Ganyu's, nor Xiao's.
I won't be able to see Yae's smirk and teasing expression.
And I won't be able to see my parents faces again.
So I lay down on the floor with those complicated feelings, not knowing to which side should I fall. So I silently cried, both of happiness and sadness.
I suddenly felt someone hug me, and by the soul, I realized that it was Guizhong. I returned the hug back.
Finally, I was able to touch my friend.
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